The purpose of the program is to pay tribute and express appreciation to veterans – about 98,000 of whom are cared for every day at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, outpatient clinics, domiciliaries and nursing homes.

It increases community awareness about VAMCs and encourages citizens to visit hospitalized veterans. A number of veterans service organizations in Macomb County have committees of folks who volunteer at the John D. Dingell VAMC.

Jenny Hobson, of Warren, goes to the Detroit hospital every Monday as part of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary. She coordinates men and women volunteers from metro Detroit units as the VA Voluntary Services, or VAVS, representative for the VFW Department State of Michigan.

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“We have quite a few men volunteering now,” she said. The VFW Ladies Auxiliary changed to an auxiliary that women and men can join.

Her crew conducts a horse race every Monday. Patients win coupons with which to shop in the hospital store or cafeteria. During national salute week, there is a special bingo.

When they arrive for their weekly duties, the VAVS office provides them with names and room numbers of inpatients who came in on the previous Friday, Saturday or Sunday who are marking birthdays.

“We deliver cards and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to them,” she said. “We make ditty bags and take them to every new patient. They have deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, socks, word search books, writing materials, a deck of cards. There might be between 10 and 35 new patients who come in over the weekend. Women veterans get special things in their bags.

“When the volunteers go up and deliver them they talk a little bit and see if there’s anything extra they need. Each one gets a new lap robe. We have people who make them; some are knitted, some crocheted, some quilted. Some buy the fleece blankets and donate them. We get there at about 7:30 a.m., go to the storeroom in the voluntary service area and get items to fill the ditty bags,” she said.

“Several volunteers on our Monday go up to the community living center on the sixth floor that used to be called the nursing home floor. We give them canteen books they can use in the retail store or the Starbuck’s or go to the cafeteria if they want something different that day,” she said.

In the hospice area, her crew supplies a room with snacks for families. One volunteer enjoys driving a golf cart inside the hospital, transporting people from the entrances to their appointment areas.

“I purchase fast food gift cards also. There’s a McDonald’s near the hospital. The people who come to the mental health clinic program get them also as a reward if they do what they are supposed to. It helps keep them on track,” she said.

To finance the items, donors send checks to the VFW state department that are forwarded to Hobson so she can shop for what’s needed, and the department gives her an allowance.

“I am a bargain hunter. If it’s on sale, I shop. Recently Meijer had socks for buy-one-get-one 75 percent off. I use MPerks and get a bigger discount. On one of the dollar days I bought hundreds of deodorants. A man at the checkout asked me if I ran a sports clinic.

“On the medical wards we see different patients all the time but on the sixth floor we see the same ones and get to know them. There’s one gentleman we enjoy; he’s hilarious,” she said.

The auxiliary treats some of the community living center residents to buffets and pasta dinners in Macomb County and each patient has his or her own volunteer to help get their food.

Hobson said she does the work as a tribute to her late father whose own father signed him up for membership in the VFW before he was even out of the service during World War II.

“Once you go, you are hooked,” said Hobson, who has logged over 8,000 hours at the VA. “We get a lot of satisfaction out of our work. You learn to appreciate what vets have done for our country and for our freedoms.”

John Pachuta, 73, is one of four volunteer drivers in Macomb County. Wednesday is his day to pick up a Disabled American Veterans Ford Flex at the Macomb County VerKuilen building and head out to one or more of the locations to pick up vets.

He found out about the program when he saw a notice in The Macomb Daily and he wanted to help people.

Pachuta, of Sterling Heights, is a U.S. Navy veteran, a boiler repairman on a destroyer during the Vietnam era, who later worked in the tool and die industry.

“I’m not in the situation that many of these folks are,” Pachuta said. “Most, if not all, don’t have vehicles or means other than busses. It may take them hours upon hours to get there on a bus, and likewise several hours going home. We volunteer drivers cut that time to a minimum.

“Sometimes I have only one or two people to drive, sometimes up to five in one trip. A bigger van would be helpful because it can get pretty cramped. I feel very good about what I do because I have that soft spot for veterans. I know where they are coming from and it gives me a good feeling that I am helping out people who are less fortunate.

“We need additional drivers because drivers might get sick or go on vacation and people depend on us. They are out of luck if they can’t get a ride. They have made appointments a long time in advance and it may be hard to get rescheduled in a reasonable amount of time,” Pachuta said.

Jerry Lambert, of Macomb Township, is not a veteran but wanted to help. He’s working at an IT job now but previously worked for Uber and Lyft and enjoyed it.

“I always wanted to do something for vets. It’s been rewarding and I’m happy to do it. I never served but I have family who did,” Lambert said.

He said he feels for the vets who have to wait out in the cold because some of the buildings are not open at 7 a.m. when they have to be there.

“It’s a little like herding cats sometimes. I might have five people in the Flex,” Lambert said. “I have to round up everyone to get them there together. Then I wait around for them to finish up and get them together to get back. Sometimes we can get out of there by noon.”

He said many are “guys and gals who are my regulars” and that he enjoys the “chitchat” with his people who served in World War II, Vietnam, Desert Storm, peacetime.

“You can always donate money to veterans, but this directly affects folks’ lives. At least they don’t have to sit outside in the cold waiting for busses,” he said.

VA hospital needs donations, variety of volunteers

Other volunteer jobs at the Detroit VAMC include: information desk volunteer, office or pharmacy assistant, patient reminder caller, patient escort, nursing staff support, magazine and book cart, patient book room and book racks. During the salute, volunteers distribute valentine cards, many made by school children.